Procureurs indonésiens toujours abuser Interpol ; Notice Rouge de l'Indonésie Procureur Toujours Mauvaise Utilisation Interpol

Our beloved friend, Benny Wenda, 37, leads a political movement for the independence of his native West Papua, an Indonesian province on the island of New Guinea. The red notice, which meant he could be arrested and possibly extradited from any one of Interpol's nearly 200 member states, was issued at the request of Indonesia last year. The country wants Mr Wenda to stand trial for a number of crimes he is alleged to have committed in West Papua, including arson and murder, but which he has long insisted are trumped-up charges intended to silence him.

Jago Russell from the campaign group Fair Trials International, announced 25 Mach 2015,that Interpol had agreed that Indonesia’s case against Mr Wenda was “predominantly political in nature”. Interpol should be used to fight serious crime but Indonesia has been misusing it to threaten a peaceful political activist. He said. “We are delighted that Interpol has now woken up to this abuse, but Benny’s case is not unique and safeguards are needed to stop other countries misusing Interpol and destroying lives and reputations in the process.”

Mr Wenda was granted asylum in Britain in 2003, after escaping from a Papuan prison while on trial. He said: "I am delighted that Interpol has removed the red notice and recognise that the Indonesian government's allegations against me were false and politically motivated.

“I now hope the attention will shift to the plight of my people in West Papua, who continue to suffer under an Indonesian regime that denies them almost every basic right that people in the west take for granted."

The former Dutch colony of West Papua has been extremely restive since the 1960s, when it became part of Indonesia. Mr Wenda's "Free West Papua" campaign claims that abuses are regularly committed by the Indonesian authorities against the indigenous Papuan people, many of whom are involved in the separatist movement.

A spokesman for Interpol confirmed that the red notice against Mr Wenda had been cancelled, after a review which decided it was not “in compliance with Interpol’s rules and regulations”. He added that all information related to the case had been deleted from Interpol's databases.